BJP demands President's Rule in Kerala

Supporters of the ruling BJP youth wing protest against the Kerala state government. Photo: Reuters

Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after unleashing violence across Kerala to vent its ire over the entry of menstruating women into the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha temple, has demanded President's Rule in the State.

A day after union textiles minister Smriti Irani blamed the LDF government in the state for a total collapse of law and order, Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday demanded for the President's Rule over recent incidents of violence, including attacks against women and children over the Sabarimala issue. The state government is on a hunt for BJP and RSS cadres, said the MP from Jharkhand, as he reportedly demanded for the Pinarayi Vijayan government to be dismissed and Central rule to be imposed on the state. The BJP MPs, according to reports, protested inside and outside the parliament against the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

The ruling CPI (M) has evenly retaliated, turning the streets of Kerala into a combat zone recently. As on Monday, the violence seemed to be tapering down apart from stray incidents in some pockets, while the BJP looks poised to gain some political mileage out of the current unrest.

The fact that the BJP's strategy and protests over the Sabarimala issue boomeranged was eloquently put by Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac on Sunday, when he
tweeted that the BJP has lost the battle for Kerala. He listed that despite stiff resistance from Sangh Parivar, the menstruating women entered the Sabarimala temple and five million women lined up along the national highway, from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram, for the Women's Wall campaign sponsored by the LDF government. The RSS rioting was put down, Isaac tweeted, further asserting that an "exasperated BJP spokesperson threatens constitutional intervention. Centre asks governor for report. Ha ha, we are ready. You shall not pass."

In another tweet, he further lampooned the saffron party by saying, "BJP spokesperson warns Kerala government of dire constitutional consequences. Constitution? Which one? The same one which Supreme Court referred to when it opened the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages against which BJP is on warpath? What a joke."

The state unit of the Congress, with a similar stand as that of the BJP, also finds itself on the wrong side of history. The LDF government can take heart that notwithstanding the pressure put by the opposition, it succeeded in implementing the Supreme Court order of September 28, 2018, which gave the nod for women in the age group of 10 to 50 to enter the Sabarimala shrine. However, the crude bomb attacks and ransacking of houses of BJP leaders, including that of MP V Muraleedharan by CPI (M), both parties indulging in attacks and counter-attacks did not augur well for the ruling front.

Kerala is one of the southern states that the BJP eyes to establish its dominance. The unrest in the state gives an opportunity for the party to exploit it to its own advantage. Smriti Irani's declaration on Sunday which states that "nobody is safe in Kerala", has to be seen in this backdrop. She chose to recall the death of a BJP cadre due to stone pelting by CPI (M) on January 3 and the alleged police witch-hunt against BJP cadres, as over 3,000 people have been arrested by the police in connection with the recent violence. A staggering total of 37,000 people have been reportedly named as the accused in over 1,200 cases.